1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to material to retainers for material wound upon a spool, drum, or reel, while permitting the easy removal of said retainer for allowing for use of the spooled material and reuse of the retainer. More particularly it relates to a spooled material retainer comprised a fastener for attaching a strap to the free end of the spooled material with the strap having hook and loop VELCRO type fastening material positioned on the surface of the strap so that when the spool is further rotated the strap is wound on itself causing the hook and loop material on the strap to interlock thereby securing the strap and free end of the spooled material to the outer diameter of the spooled material.
2. Prior Art
The winding of material upon a spool, drum, or reel type device for storage or use is a common practice in the United States and throughout the world. Fishing poles commonly use a crank driven gear to turn the spool upon which a line is wound during the act of landing the fish itself. Upon finishing ones fishing adventure for the day, line is wound upon the spool for storage until the next user's angling adventure. Or, upon deciding that the fishing may be more productive at another spot during ones fishing sojourn, anglers commonly wind their fishing line up during their time of transport to a more productive site.
Another common practice is using a vehicle mounted gear driven winch consisting of a spool upon which rope, cable, or webbing is wound to move the vehicle itself or material which the user wishes moved. In moving a stuck vehicle, the wound up material is unwound from the spool and attached to a stationary object. The spool is then mechanically activated to wind up the unwound material thus moving the vehicle from its stranded position. If a heavy item is to be moved the spool is also unwound and the rope, cable, or webbing, is secured to the material to be moved. The material is moved upon activation of the mechanically driven spool.
Spools are also used to wind magnetic tape and many other elongated materials which are easily wound for storage.
An especially vexing problem facing most persons in the use and reuse of spooled material for its particular purpose, is securing the wound material itself to the spool in a manner rendering it easy for reuse and unwinding but fastening it securely enough to the spooling device to alleviate the problems encountered if the material unwinds.
One can tie the loose end of the material to another loop of material on the spool, however this requires that the secured material eventually be cut for reuse and can cause tangles in the roper or cable. The user can tape the material to the spool using adhesive tape, however the tape must be thrown away after one use and when used on material such as thin monofilament fish line, this method can cause tangles or a breakage of the line. Many a frustrated angler, upon finding his fishing line tangled after storage, or transport to a new fishing site opts to throw away the tangled line and start with a fresh reel.
There have been a number of approaches advanced in the past to overcome the aforementioned problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,874 Faulkner, teaches a hook and loop fastener for a fishing reel. However, unlike the present invention, Faulkner teaches a hook and loop fastener which is secured around the fishing rod and not the reel itself. Further, there is no attachment means on the Faulkner invention to secure the fastener to the fish line without the hook attached to the line. Faulkner thus teaches the use of hoop and loop fastening material to temporarily fasten an article to a rod like element such as a fishing pole and not the reel itself with the requirement of detaching the hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,185 inventor Vincent reveals a retainer for filament material wound upon a drum. However Vincent teaches away from firmly securing wound material upon a drum in a secure fashion in that it allows the wound material to be easily removed from the drum while the Vincent invention is secured to the reel by grasping the unsecured free end of the wound material and pulling it to the desired length.
Another approach to securing fishing line to avoid tangles is that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,095 Stevenson which teaches a line securing device which is attached to a fishing pole and secures the monofilament material for immediate reuse of the fisherman when stored for a short time. Stevenson can be used to secure a line to a pole, however it cannot secure a line to the outside portion of the reel itself and allow for reuse of the retainer. Neither does Stevenson allow for the end of the line itself or a fishing lure or hook attached to that line to be attached to the invention. Further, Stevenson does not allow for the winding up of the fishing line totally upon the reel and thus the secured line, hanging loose and inviting seizure by objects which seem to abound for such purposes around fishing line, can become tangled upon the pole or other objects, and is thus subject to breakage and tangling during transport and storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,245 Brodrick reveals a hook and loop fastening strap. However, Brodrick lacks an easily disattached attachment means mounted at one end of the retainer to secure the cable, rope, or monofilament that is to be wound upon the reel, to the fastening strap itself. Thus Brodrich provides no easy continuously reusable means to attach, and remove, the retainer to a fish line or a cable or rope to be wound upon a reel.
There exists as such, a need for a reusable securing device for securing the spooled material and its free end thereof wound upon a spool, drum, or reel, capable of securing the wound material in a secure position and protecting that material from abrasion until reuse. Such a securing device should be easily attached, and removed from both the reel and to the material to be wound itself, or, to a hook or other device attached to the loose end of the material to be wound. Such a securing device should secure itself upon the reel around the outside of the material to be wound, secured, and protected, when it is wound thereon by the user. Yet it should also be securable to other objects other than the reel itself.